Kaylor: The Timeline

Chapter One :: The Return

August 26, 2014

It was a late landing in New York City, even for Taylor. The plane didn't touch down from California until there were only a few hours away from sunrise. Even the New York City skyline wasn't quite as bright as it usually was, only because even some buildings would not stay lit into the wee hours of morning.

That didn't stop Taylor from softly saying in a sing-song voice, "I'm baaack," to herself. There's no traffic at all and barely anyone on the street. It is sometimes her favorite time of night to drive through the city. She can imagine that it is all hers, providing her with all the privacy she could ever need in life.

"It's this left turn up here," Taylor reminds her driver. She's taking advantage of the late night to spend with Karlie instead of returning home to her own apartment. They've been much more strict about being photographed by paparazzi, coming and going from each other's places. That meant that Karlie spent much less time at her apartment than she had been. It also meant that Taylor and Karlie have not been seen together by anyone in over a month, at the Ingrid Michaelson concert.

The SUV easily stops curbside to Karlie's apartment. Karlie's flowered gate is not quite as bright and lively as it was in the spring and earlier summer months. Fall is nearing the city, ready to take over all the colors of life for a gentler scene of decay. Fall is one of Taylor's favorite seasons, but Taylor can tell that Karlie much rather prefers the summer. There is always a tinge of disappointment in her eyes when she spots her bedroom balcony garden littered with a few fallen and crinkled flower petals.

"I don't know. We just had such a good summer. I'm sad to see it go," she had sighed softly, tossing the petals into the trash.

"We'll have an even better fall together," Taylor promised. The first thing she had done the next morning, before flying out to LA for a round of press interviews for the new album, was to have her assistant send Karlie a very fresh and very beautiful batch of new flowers.

But when Taylor steps out of the vehicle, enjoying the rare moment of being on a public sidewalk without anyone around to see her, her eyes are not on the flowered gate. "Is that wet cement?" Taylor asks in surprise. There are a few traffic cones and yellow caution tape around a slab of sidewalk. Much of the maintenance work is done late at night to keep people during the day and earlier hours of night to keep from meddling with it. The still wet cement glistens beneath the street lights, even at a distance.

It's only a few doors down from Karlie's apartment complex. Taylor shivers as she walks down the sidewalk to investigate, still wearing her VMA one piece outfit, exposing much more of her legs in the somewhat chilly summer night. She probably should have changed on the plane, but it was night to be able to just sit down and do absolutely nothing at all after an entire award show, a performance, and a short time at the after party. Besides, sometimes she liked getting done up real nice for work and coming home to look good for Karlie. Surprisingly enough, it was something Taylor was able to do a lot less than Karlie, considering she wasn't the model in this relationship. So Taylor took advantage of it when she could.

Taylor stares down at the wet cement, feeling quite foolish in her body suit with two security guards curiously watching her. It's not like she can write 'Taylor + Karlie = Forever' in the cement, for obvious reasons, but she thinks it would be a shame to not do anything at all. Karlie's initials will have to do. Taylor is quite fond of them anyway, recently finding herself absentmindedly doodling them in press junkets more and more often.

She bends down, sinking her finger into the cement. A simple KK with a heart causes Taylor to smile as she looks down on it. Taylor wonders if her security has thought she's been losing her mind ever since Karlie has become a part of her life. All the sneaking around, casual and spontaneous trips to Sweden, occasional inconvenient sleepovers at Karlie's much smaller apartment that is not as accommodating for an entire team of security, and just other normal things like that. Oh well.